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CBC Radio The Best of The Current |
Police believe many poor people who visit Kosovo often leave the country with much less than they arrived with. Many are missing -- an internal organ. We speak with a Canadian prosecutor who's leading the fight against organ trafficking in [...]
Of the 34 states in the U.S. that have recently passed or introduced restrictive voting legislation, all but one is Republican controlled. The one exception, Rhode Island, has introduced what's generally believed to be the least restrictive rules of the bunch. And we have new [...]
The outbreak of supposed hysteria among a group of girls in New York is raising concerns because it seems to be a throwback to labeling young girls with a disorder that some see as just part of growing [...]
Two jail cells: one in Iran, one in Bahrain and in each a Canadian. The clock is ticking on the life of Saeed Malekpour after the Supreme Court of Iran's decision to uphold his death sentence. And as of yesterday, Naser Al-Raas is back in [...]
Today we're talking about Old Age Security that right now kicks in at age 65. The Prime Minister made hints while in Davos, the NDP's making motions in the house and some getting closer to 65 are wondering where this is [...]
One hundred years after the creation of the ANC, 18 years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is a troubled place where Blacks continue to live on the margins. Today, the son of Steve Biko, the slain activist who founded the black consciousness movement [...]
Most major police forces have canine units but Vancouver police dogs account for the highest number of dog-bite injuries of all municipal forces in B.C. In fact, half of all Vancouver's in-custody injuries come from dogs. To some, a Police Dog is a weapon or [...]
It is an overpowering fear. You feel you are awake but immobile. Millions of people experience a sleep disorder called Sleep Paralysis. And sometimes with it comes what Newfoundlanders call, The Old Hag. Howard Goldenthal brings us a documentary on the realities of The Paralysing [...]
It was a powerful and unsettling statement in an already disturbing murder trial when Mohammed Shafia said his daughters' behaviour made him feel like a cuckold. With that one word, a father's presumed ownership of his daughters' sexuality was laid bare. And while his reaction [...]
Fighting continues between rebel fighters and government forces on the doorstep to Damascus where the pictures and stories of those opposing the Assad regime are gripping and unsettling. Those who argue Bashar Assad does have support get little traction and little serious attention dismissed as [...]
So why is it that China is commissioning a second polar ice-breaker and India has plans to build one too? All this as both countries seek to join the ranks asking for observer status on The Arctic Council, a body of eight Northern nations including [...]
The mining companies have descended on Saskatchewan. A proliferation of Potash mines is generating Billions and some small prairie communities see new opportunity while others worry about what they're getting into. All this as other potash mines scale back and prices [...]
Our project Game Changer looks back at 1976... when the ground shifted seismically and politically for China. Ten years into the cultural revolution, the earth moved in one of the most devastating earthquakes in world history. We trace the dots, back to the Tangshan Quake [...]
The race to become the Republican candidate for U.S. President is heating up and getting nastier. As we head into Tuesday's key primary in Florida, we speak with a young man whose job it was to dig up (and air) the dirt on the [...]
The Current begins with the legacy of Zainab, Sahar, Geeti and Rona. Three sisters and their father's first wife murdered early in the summer of 2009. In what Judge Robert Maranger called a "twisted concept of honour". The details that came to light in the [...]
Leaked documents outlining Canada's negotiating position in trade talks with the European Union make no mention of an exemption for water services. That has raised concerns that municipal drinking water could be vulnerable to privatization in a free trade deal. We'll look at what multinational-owned [...]
It's hard to think of a symbol that for many captures the human values of caring and hope better than the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. But a new documentary takes a hard look at the pink ribbon and its sponsorship deals, saying they've [...]
Visits to national parks are down and a proposal for a walkway built over a mountain valley promises to be a big draw in Jasper National Park. But opponents warn it could be just the top of a very slippery slope for Canada's mountain parks [...]
Many Canadian mining companies embrace corporate social Responsibility with environmental projects, training programs and special projects for youth - often in partnership with NGOs. This fall some of those projects also received millions of dollars from CIDA. But critics question, why Canada's International Development Agency, [...]
It is hard to imagine that one television discussion could change a nation, but that is exactly what happened when Ricardo Lagos publicly denounced Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. That conversation set in motion the change that led to Pinochet's ouster and the restoration of [...]
We're back on the trail of a few stories of the past week including high praise for a courageous Italian coast guard captain and condemnation for some insipid Italian leadership. Also, changing faces at RIM and more on non-combat [...]
As we trudge through another Canadian winter, the bookings for southern resort vacations are almost a national ritual. Tourism figures show more than a million Canadians choose Mexico. But the headlines over the last few weeks offer a dark perspective over those sunny [...]
Natali Mashiah says a group of Haredim or Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh targeted her for immodest dress. She says they jumped on her car, smashed the windows and slashed the tires. It is yet another incident pitting strict religious [...]
They are pierced, cut and even branded. From elfin ears to decorative scars to implants to make horns on the head - body modifications appear to be in increasing demand. But they are procedures undertaken in often unregulated studios. Even some of those who do [...]
Something is killing the men of Central America. Along the pacific coast of Nicaragua and El Salvador the rate of kidney disease is alarmingly high and no one can figure out why. But the suspicion is that they are literally being worked to [...]
RIM's U.S. market share is down, but the company is growing in other countries. The Blackberry is still the smartphone of choice for business... something Apple hasn't yet managed to bite into. And yet, talk to an analyst and Blackberry is in trouble. Not quite [...]
Just when you thought it was safe to throw away your old calendars, it appears to be 2008 all over again. As a group of hedge funds, holding piles of Greek debt, are seemingly playing both ends against the middle with what is essentially default [...]
If you've been listening to the news you know the Republican Presidential primary has now moved into a different kind of vicious with Mitt Romney still smarting from a South Carolina side-swipe by Newt Gingrich's wealth of supporters. Which brings us to the candidate who [...]
Another Monday, another school day. And for far too many First Nations kids another challenge. Shannen Koostachin was 13 years old when she made a plea for greater opportunities for Aboriginal students. She would die in a car crash two years later. But her desire [...]
On the eve of the much-anticipated meeting of First Nations leaders and the Prime Minister, we continue our discussion about Aboriginal education. Today, we hear from different First Nations students and educators to find out how they're trying to keep kids in [...]
In the wake of the coordinated withdrawal of service by prominent internet companies including Wikipedia, U.S. lawmakers are backing away from two controversial proposed anti-piracy bills. Now, some say the black-out is a game-changer which demonstrates just how powerful and uncontainable the internet has [...]
Renters in Canada often have to live in subpar and unhealthy conditions because the rental market is so tight and big landlords are more focused on investor return than in being responsive to the needs of [...]
Ships' Captains have a mythic quality in our collective psyches. We put our lives in their hands. Which is why people around the world have been riveted by the story of the Costa Concordia. Captain Francesco Schettino, denies the charges against him, and says he [...]
He says it isn't a Death but a Delay but already all sides are drawing their own conclusions over Barak Obama's decision to reject Keystone XL. Environmentalists seem gleeful, Obama's Republican opponents seem vengeful and Canadians pushing Gateway see their plan as [...]
For an estimated 85-thousand children and youth across Canada home is an elusive concept and parents come in the form of children's aid or state guardians. And when those kids hit adulthood they are on their own: Youth forced by their age to leave care [...]
The modern-day Klondike gold rush we told you about last week while in Whitehorse has unearthed another treasure for paleontologists ... from the bones of woolly mammoths to simitar toothed cats, there's more than Gold in those hills. We'll tell you more when we check [...]
They clearly think they've been tarred on the subject of Oil Sands. Individuals and groups are lining up to share their views at hearings on the proposed Gateway Pipeline from Alberta through B.C. Today, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on his choice of the word [...]
All of our premiers have plans to work together on innovative health care but new numbers show they might want to consider a new prescription on pharmaceuticals. New research shows 1 in 10 Canadians won't take their prescription drugs because of the cost. And they [...]
Ute Lawrence never went to war and never saw a conflict zone. But she did find herself on the wrong stretch of highway one September day 13 yrs ago. And that's when everything changed. One of Canada's most deadly highway pileups sent her on a [...]
You could fit the entire population of Bathurst or Marystown or Banff into some of the new mega-cruise ships. Are they getting too big to sail? In the wake of the Costa Concordia disaster off the coast of Italy, we assess the risks involved in [...]
If information is knowledge and knowledge empowers then is the act of sharing that knowledge a spiritual imperative? The four-thousand members of the Church of Kopimism would tell you it is. Sweden which recognizes elves and gnomes as religious communities has also officially recognized file-sharing [...]
Information and mis-information comes courtesy of the multi-million-dollar SuperPAC ... those political organizations in the U.S. that can roll out ads for their favorite candidates without having to say who is bankrolling them. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that equates money with free speech has [...]
The Federal Liberals want back in the game. Shunted into third party status in the last election, the expectation coming out of this weekend's party convention is that their brand new party president will be the key to help a hobbled party [...]
They are the undisputed heroes in every crisis. From natural disasters, to violent conflict, humanitarian aid workers are often the first in and usually the last to leave. They risk their lives to help the helpless but until now few knew they sometimes also risk [...]
Today our project Game Changer examines Canada's influence in the world-wide fight for same-sex marriage rights. Even as the Justice Minister was pledging to close a "legislative gap" late last week over divorcing same-sex couples, gay rights activists world-wide were on edge watching it unfold. [...]
During the 1980s and 90s, researchers and pediatricians have been telling people about the damage caused by shaking an infant. But according to a new investigation by CBC Television's The Fifth Estate, there are growing concerns about the way prosecutions are being handled and serious [...]
People in Taiwan elect a new president and legislature tomorrow. But another country's leadership casts a long shadow over the ballot boxes. Generations after the Chinese civil war, Beijing and Taipei can always find ways to distrust one [...]
It's not exactly a smackdown, but the pushback this week on the new book, The Obamas has been impressive. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor joins us to share her portrayal of Michelle Obama, and to answer the White House's criticism of [...]
During our program, we have heard statistics and stories from - and about - men who have grown up without fathers in their lives and men who want to make sure their boys and girls know their fathers. We dedicated this last half hour of [...]
We continue to talk about Aboriginal fathers - a demographic that has been called the greatest untapped resource in the lives of aboriginal children. That quote from Ed John, Grand Chief of the First Nations Summit in British Columbia. We hear from two people working [...]
There are many statistics. The percentage of Aboriginal children being raised by a single parent -- usually the mother -- is double the percentage of other Canadian children. One in 5 First Nations women over the age of 15 is a single mom. And if [...]
Away from the river and up the hill they've built a new prison, twice as big as the old one, all set to open in a few weeks just as the Harper government moves closer to bringing in a new crime bill that will impose [...]
In aboriginal families across Canada, and in African American families in the U.S., too many children know only one parent. On tomorrow's show, we'll bring you our Town Hall, Fathers without fathers: Aboriginal men in Canada. It's not an issue we talk about much but [...]
In the old days, they panned the rivers and creeks north of here for the gold flakes that sent so many scurrying to the Klondike. Today, we'll introduce you to prospector Shawn Ryan whose low-tech weed extractor and high-tech mapping has pinpointed the Gold many [...]
Canada's former Governor General visits Haiti for the second anniversary of the quake that shattered a nation. Michaëlle Jean believes that while charities are helping to rebuild, the national government is so starved for cash it can't enforce its own policies for reconstruction. And in [...]
The Rockies mark the great divide between B.C. and Alberta, but the great divide between the provinces this year may be over a resource. Many Albertans would like a pipeline to take the products of the oilsands to the coast, and many people in British [...]
If you're wondering why many Egyptians have lost faith with their revolution -- just check out the number of people sentenced to prison by military courts. The country's military is aggressively hostile to criticism. We hear about the Canadian effort to free one outspoken [...]
For the developers of the oilsands, the markets of Asia are an attractive final destination for Alberta's black crude. But the journey from Fort McMurray to China involves building a pipeline hundreds of kilometres long through some of the most untouched land in Canada, part [...]
CBC journalist Terence McKenna is just back from a visit to the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey. He heard from average citizens, business owners and even soldiers that Syria has become so terrifying, even a tent in a Turkish field promises a better life. We'll [...]
Some former Wall Street financial experts are annoyed by the Occupy movement's unsophisticated understanding of the markets. So they're helping the movement understand the markets better to be more forceful in their [...]
Today on The Current we go to Northern Ontario, to hear from a remarkable young voice, with a story of euphoric escape, despair, desperation and [...]
We continue our focus on OxyContin addiction plaguing northern Ontario, looking for explanations, solutions and asking what Health Canada is doing about [...]
This morning, a Republican Guard Commander announced there will be more drills in the vital oil shipping lane again next month. The US and Israel are planning a major missile defence exercise in the next few weeks. We hear from two people who say something [...]
It was back in the 80's when US First Lady Nancy Reagan famously campaigned to discourage teens and other young people from taking drugs with the phrase: JUST SAY NO. Fast forward to 2012 and in B.C. a string of deaths due to overdoses of [...]
We don't say much here that doesn't send someone's fingers flying over the computer keys, or thumbs tapping into twitter. We're re-visiting, re-working and re-viewing your re-action to everything from Virgins to Violence in [...]
We can all remember the pictures of Japan's devastating tsunami, watching as so much stuff representing so many lives was swept out to sea. That debris is slowly coming our way floating toward the West Coast, corralled by currents and pushed by the winds.The sections [...]
We are only half way into the first week of 2012 and already the signs are that this could be a restive year between workers and their bosses. Today, the face-off between unions and [...]
What if the government or anyone else could read your mind? Wait for it .. the potential is fast approaching. We are moving from the sci-fi on the silver screen to the reality on the MRI machine. The research and results are so advanced that [...]
The videos coming out of Syria from citizen journalists are so powerful that the people taking the pictures are being killed. Today, we introduce you to one man forced to flee for his work. He is now holed up in Cairo mentoring a new breed [...]
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has replaced those once-common and very public federal-provincial meetings of first ministers with private, closed door, one-on-one encounters with premiers. Its been dubbed, the rise of the Harper Doctrine, a new way of taking care of politics in Canada. Can it [...]
Due to copyright issues associated with music in our documentary today, we can not make this story available on podcast. However, you can listen to the documentary called "From the Embers" by Piya Chattopadhyay online through streamed audio on our website at cbc.ca/thecurrent. Sorry for [...]
Tony Tarquinto is 42 years old and he is still a Virgin. And he is not alone. Whether by chance or choice, there are thousands of adults in Canada and the U.S. who say they have never had sexual intercourse. Our hyper-sexualized society doesn't make [...]
We are in the first days of a new year which also happens to be a U.S. election year, so why not get right to it? From Newt's baggage to Mitt's money and Santorum's surge, all eyes are on Iowa for the first electoral test [...]
They look awfully cute and cuddly from afar. The polar bear is a formidable predator, just ask anyone who's come face to face with one. But for all their strength, the icy environment on which they thrive is literally disappearing from under their feet. Canada [...]
Would it Kill you to Stop Doing That? That's not just an exasperated plea, that's the title of a new book on modern manners and all the ticks that drive people to distraction as we immerse ourselves in technological toys. You may likely think you [...]
2012 is right around the corner. So we've gathered some strange bedfellows to talk about the year that was in politics. We'll talk about the highs and lows and what we can expect [...]
The vast majority of Canadians who have a stroke will survive. But only 10 per cent will make a full recovery. The aftermath of a stroke can be difficult physically and emotionally. And it can be very trying on loved ones as well. Our documentary [...]
The bubbly is chilling and the corks are ready to be popped. For many-- champagne's in vogue and beer's a bust when ringing in the New Year. Yet the suds are the most popular alcoholic beverage in this country. We're serving up Beer with the [...]
His regime is unleashing its ire. Leading a murderous campaign on its own citizens. As international monitors and the world look on, Bashar Al-Assad remains ruthless and defiant. But the Syrian president is also described as mild-mannered and reserved. A duality only a few outsiders [...]
It was a big battle--but this year--the war was won. The war on Don't Ask Don't Tell, the American military's policy which forced gay soldiers to keep their sexuality hidden. We rebroadcast a documentary where veterans speak out about being a gay soldier south of [...]
In the Bronx, young people were plugging turntables into light posts to invent hip-hop. Along the Bowery, art-school kids were distilling rock music down to its essence to create punk. While others were leading the biggest uprising in western classical music since Stravinsky. It all [...]
In 2003 George W. Bush went on television and declared war on Iraq. As bombs rained down on Baghdad, reporters decked out in fatigues and flack jackets embedded themselves with the American military. But, as the insurgency grinded on, the Iraq story faded from the [...]
Even the mention of 9/11 evokes horrendous images for most adults. But imagine the images and memories seared in the minds of children... particularly the ones who attended school in Manhattan on that fateful day a decade ago. We heard from one such girl, in [...]
As Kim-Jong Il is laid to rest, protesters are on the streets of Seoul condemning their Northern neighbours' regime. Some factory workers in China have walked off the job demanding higher wages. In India, an anti-corruption activist is on a hunger strike. From the Arab [...]
It took 18 days of demonstrations to oust the man who ruled Egypt for 30 years. But there were a lot of signposts that paved the way to Tahrir Square. We hear from the author of a new book about the making of a revolution [...]
We re-broadcast a documentary about a time in Canada when women's work meant getting married, pregnant and raising children at home. But if you were a single mother -- you weren't cut out for the job. Many women were forced to give up their children. [...]
Time is rarely on our side. We usually think we don't have enough of it -- and then a look in the mirror often makes us think we've had too much. In part three we discuss time. Does it control us? Or do we control [...]
Imagine the stress of knowing you're about to play in the biggest hockey tournament of your life. The puck drops today at the World Juniors in Edmonton. The players are filled with hope, determination and pressure. And perhaps no one feels that pressure more than [...]
We re-broadcast a documentary about giving and receiving the gift of life. Organ donors and recipients are often strangers who--by law--aren't allowed to get to know one another. But that's about to change in one Canadian [...]
Today, we're setting the clock back, 20 years to the day. That's when the hammer and sickle was lowered and the once mighty soviet union ceased to exist. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. That's certainly true when it [...]
Psychologists have been studying gratitude and its effects on those of us who feel it and then go on to express it. And these researchers are finding that an attitude of gratitude leads to a greater satisfaction with life and to kinder behaviour toward others. [...]
Canadians may think of themselves as peace-loving, but we speak to a woman who thinks we're avid consumers of war. She says you can see it in our pension plans and even our jewelry. Her new book, "Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid" looks [...]
Anyone who's sat through first-year economics knows societies have to consume to grow. But we may need to rewrite the Economics 101 textbook. We speak with a man who believes we can grow without increasing consumption. In fact, we may already be doing [...]
Inflation is up, productivity is down, tourists are gone and unemployment hasn't been this high for a decade. Egyptians may have reveled in a revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak but now they are questioning the cost of it [...]
His point is simple, the brain can't take it. The Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal has added his voice to those calling for an end to hockey violence that results in hits to the head. We hear from him and read your thoughts [...]
The fire that swept through Slave Lake Alberta last May stays with those who escaped in the simplest and most profound of ways. This was a year of brutal actions and swift consequences in several Canadian communities. In the midst of the holiday season, we're [...]
The Family that Slays together, Stays together or so says the man who created the CIA branch that profiles so-called Rogue world leaders. As North Koreans mourn Kim Jong Il and analysts puzzle over Kim Jong-un, as Bashar Al Assad maintains his grip on power [...]
He is forever young, the teenage boy with that odd hair and his loyal dog off on another adventure that takes him around the world. Tin Tin is the anti-hero, the Belgian comic strip character that spawned 23 graphic novels and millions of fans over [...]
Modern medicine is presenting a challenge for the law over the issue of HIV-AIDS. Should you be charged with a criminal offence like murder for willfully spreading the HIV virus to an unknowing sex partner if the newest drugs have changed, a deadly disease into [...]
There are stacks of rules and regulations designed to keep hazardous or dangerous goods from harming people as they are trucked, shipped or piped across the country. But Canada's top Environmental watchdog says the key federal departments responsible for keeping hazardous goods from being hazardous [...]
Canada's oil-and-gas and mining industries are an economic bright spot, their output worth about 4-percent of the GDP. So picture that productivity - four percent of GDP - because that is also what Corporate Canada loses every year to mental illness. Former Federal Finance Minister [...]
As the optimists and activists of so many middle eastern countries blossomed in an Arab Spring this year, the hopeful people of Syria have been locked in a perpetual winter by a dictator whose behaviour was and actually still is worse than most of the [...]
She was 13 when a simple operation went inexplicably wrong and she found herself unable to walk. But Monique Van de Vorst concentrated on what she could do becoming a paralympic athlete, excelling at handcycling. Still she was beset by random events that injured her [...]
With the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, world leaders are watching closely for any signal from North Korea on its nuclear intentions. Also in this segment, Federal opposition leaders are critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper demanding he travel to Attawapiskat to [...]
The already hostile friendship between the U.S. and Pakistan is getting more uncomfortable. Tens-of-thousands of Islamists rallied in Peshawar and Lehore yesterday condemning the United States and denouncing a NATO attack. All this as Pakistanis along the Afghan border insist dozens of U.S. drone attacks [...]
For ten years, it's been possible to get a prescription for pot.Canada was the first country to create a system for doling out marijuana as medicine for people with certain serious illnesses. And in the past few years, a curious thing has happened. The number [...]
Also, are you feeling the burden of debt? Silly question. Who isn't? Personal indebtedness has never been higher in Canada. And as far as governments go - it's even worse. From this country to the U.S. to pretty much all of Europe and beyond, the [...]
What's happening in Russia these days? On the heels of a controversial election, has Vladimir Putin reached his best-before date? Or is that just the chatter from the disgruntled and the West? We look into the state of Mother [...]
Stories of teens taking their own lives after being bullied and often after being taunted for being gay have dominated the headlines across the country for several months. Ontario's answer to that is new anti-bullying legislation. But critics say the new law isn't about bullying [...]
It began as simple time saver. No more stamps, no more phone calls when a quick e-mail would suffice. It changed the game in office communications. But for all the ease ... writing, reading, answering and culling e-mails can take up to five hours a [...]
Also today, we read some of your letters on Canadian stem cell research, Canadian oil and poverty in Canada. And we are still tracking those two east coast ferries now being scavenged on India's ship breaking coast. Marine Atlantic says it put the sale of [...]
Remember how we all stopped using CFC's in fridges, in hairspray, all because of the hole in the Ozone layer? We replaced CFCs with HFCs and the hole did get smaller but now we know HFCs are even worse for the atmosphere. Our project, Game [...]
Ask Jean Charbonneau what those who come to his library ask to read and he'll tell you True Crime is the most popular. His readers are prisoners but the fact that they're reading at all is proof to him that his work matters. In a [...]
Well he did it. Peter Kent killed Canada's Kyoto commitment and his critics say that's catastrophic. The Conservatives never hid their dislike for the deal. And they insist they are still moving ahead on emissions reductions. Today, we hear from Environment Minister Peter Kent. But [...]
Russia's retreating, Europe's regrouping, the U.S. is reverberating and Canada ... well the Governor of the Bank of Canada suggests we would do well to start re-focusing. In the midst of global economic uncertainty, Mark Carney sees opportunity for those Canadians willing to put aside [...]
On the surface, hers is the kind of application government officials look for: Young, educated, skilled and upwardly mobile, fluent in English, adapting well and anxious to be part of the Canadian community. And for a while it seemed Fatemah Kamkar would, indeed, be welcome [...]
Dozens of Imams turned their sermons to the subject of honour killings a few days ago, all in response to the disturbing details of the Shafia trial coming out of Kingston Ontario where a father, mother and son stand accused in the murders of three [...]
They developed The Kindle, Guitar Hero and the little robot vacuum cleaner that scuttles along the floor. But they've also created the exo-skeleton robots you can hug and cars that can fold up. Today we bring you the story of MITs Media Lab where very [...]
This past weekend saw the end of the some of the most persistent of the Occupy Protests as demonstrators in Calgary removed their tents Friday and as police in Boston arrested those refusing to move Saturday morning. But even before they were gone the Occupy [...]
Tens-of-thousands took to the streets this weekend, angry over what they say is election fraud and fed up with Vladimir Putin's presumption of power. But despite the call for greater rights and democracy, there is one group that fears its rights will be trounced. Legislation [...]
Canada hasn't made much of an impression at the climate change talks in South Africa - certainly not a positive one. But China sure has. Yes, it is the global bad boy - biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, a colossal number of coal plants, and [...]
It seems the world needs more Canada. Well, at least Iceland does. There's a growing push in Iceland to make the Loonie the official currency there. The country is desperate for a stable currency, following its banking collapse and ongoing economic problems. Our dollar - [...]
Have you found your God yet? That question was asked of Eric Weiner one day when he was in the hospital, and thought he might die. Well, he didn't die but the question haunted him, because the answer, essentially, was No. So he went on [...]
We opened the phone lines for a special phone-in edition for the remaining hour of our program. We're asking: what's it like being poor in Canada? Poet Lorna Crozier and Rob Rainer, Executive Director of Canada Without Poverty joined Anna Maria in studio to help [...]
We continued our call-in to address the reality of poverty in Canada by dedicating the rest of our program to the experiences shared by many Canadians who are poor, surviving with little and living at/or below the poverty [...]
Poet Lorna Crozier and Rob Rainer, the Executive Director of Canada Without Poverty joined Anna Maria in studio to share some response from our Friday special that prompted this call-in. And meet filmmaker Nance Ackerman, her documentary Four Feet Up, looks at child poverty through [...]
If you haven't yet caught the symbolism of Rome, Athens and Washington being in financial freefall then look East ... far East, where after 5 centuries of humbling stagnation China is innovative and creative in ways the West used to be. And no .. 140 [...]
Also today, our project Game Changer is tracking the political and judicial treatment of big oil in Latin America. From an oil spill off the coast of Brazil to a multi Billion dollar judgement in Ecuador, each involving Chevron and each sending a message about [...]
The statistics appear to show abductions-by-parents account for more at least a third of all cases of missing children in Canada. And sometimes as in the case that hit the headlines this week, the search can drag on for years. Today, we look at the [...]
It was one of those Sundays, where one scientist was spelling off the other, checking the lab mice in a project that was all about using radiation for cancer treatment. So imagine their surprise when the two scientists realized what was really happening to those [...]
It was not so long ago, Russians were so enamoured with Vladimir Putin that the top song was one for the women: "I Want a Man Like Putin" ... and he lapped it up, appearing in increasingly macho settings. Now twelve years on, Russians may [...]
As our Environment Minister prepares to make the Ethical Oil argument at a climate change conference hostile to Alberta's Oilsands, we're asking about the concept of labeling oil ... Ethical. Are you supporting the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia if you tar Alberta's [...]
Today, our project Game Changer is going back to look at First Nation communities and to ask why wasn't each a Game Changer for itself and for the next community? Today, we bring you voices from communities still struggling with housing, from one community that's [...]
They called her Sybil. Hers was a narrative that changed modern psychiatry, a young woman, her childhood riddled with such abuse that her mind fragmented, shattered into 16 different personalities. Her story would sell millions of books and inspire a gripping film. After Sybil's struggles [...]
We started our special Editon of The Current hosted by poet Lorna Crozier on Poverty in Canada, with personal stories from Canadians who live in poverty. There are those who have always been poor, others who are new to being poor and still more who [...]
Twenty years ago Canadian politicians pledged to eradicate child poverty, but today an abysmal one in ten kids in this country is growing up poor. We look at the consequences of that poverty and what needs to be [...]
We also take a look at the higher costs low-income people pay for a range of day-to-day expenses. Many low-income Canadians end up paying the most .... everything from groceries to banking, and those higher costs make it even harder to escape [...]
She's been threatened with rape. He's got mild to moderate brain damage. And yet another one of them can't shake the beating that left him lying on the floor. They are all transit drivers in different Canadian cities. And they are facing a seemingly increasingly [...]
You've heard the news stories many times as someone with a history of dangerous sexual offences leaves prison and eventually tries to settle in someone's neighbourhood. The fear is that they will re-offend, that they cannot be rehabilitated. Today, we hear from an Ottawa-based psychiatrist [...]
She grew up knowing she was poor and even today a successful professor, poet and author, Lorna Crozier is affected by the poverty she faced all those years ago. As she prepares, a special Friday edition of The Current on the 10-percent, those often-invisible but [...]
Documents revealed by Canadian Press talk of news releases that are "Harperized" with bureaucrats expressing what they call "mild distress" at what they have been "instructed" to do. And now seasoned journalists on Parliament Hill are questioning the politicization of the public service. Today, the [...]
The RCMP was one of the last major police forces in the world to admit women to its ranks in 1974. It took another 16 years for them to get the same Red Serge uniform that is so symbolic of RCMP pride. CBC Producer, Yvonne [...]
It used to be dismissed as irresponsible science but Planet Hacking is getting a lot more attention these days. Geoengineering, altering the atmosphere to control climate change may not only Change the Game, in the wrong hands it could End the Game and that's why [...]
You've likely seen the pictures by now, kids with rashes on their faces, homes with outside walls of weathered, graying particle board, no running water or electricity and a stove made out of an oil drum. And yet even as the Red Cross heads to [...]
He's got a state-of-the-art, environmentally first rate business and he had a plan to create 40 jobs in Cape Breton. But the decommissioned ferries Wayne Elliot wanted to buy and recycle were sold for millions more than he could even offer by the Canadian Crown [...]
There was a time when life for the majority, was nasty, brutish and short. But these days, it is pacified, prolonged and even pensioned. Fully 15-percent of all prehistoric humans died a violent death. These days despite it all, fewer than 3-percent of people do. [...]
After three years of breaking news reports that outlined explosive details about collusion and corruption in Quebec's construction industry, the Charbonneau Commission will begin an inquiry. This is a story of government officials union bosses, company bosses and organized crime. And it began when a [...]
The tug of war is about to begin anew in Durban South Africa where politicians, diplomats, advisors and scientists are gathered for a new round of climate change talks. And as they begin, a Canadian investigative journalist poking around behind the scenes argues that our [...]
Voting day has begun with juxtaposed images in Egypt. There are long lines in some areas and predictions of a high voter turnout while others continue to protest and call for a boycott. We take you to Egypt today, to get the views of the [...]
Four former Vancouver mayors say we must move from a violent unregulated marijuana market to a strictly regulated cannabis market that is based on a public health framework because it will help stop gang violence. But some critics feel this latest move to push for [...]
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo will choose a new government on Monday and many are dreading what will happen after the votes are cast. With 18-thousand candidates to choose from, few believe peace will break out once the ballots are [...]
Marvin Elkind aka The Weasel was a low-level mob functionary, a loan collector, a boxer and a long-time police informant. He was also Jimmy Hoffa's driver. It's a remarkable life, perhaps most remarkable for the fact that Elkind has somehow managed to survive it. Elkind's [...]
The images and the news out of Egypt seems dire now as the country's so-called revolution moves into another day of uncertainty, all of it documented, tracked and offered to the world by a battery of Egyptian journalists empowered by change even as they continue [...]
This is Thursday and our mail includes opinions on polygamy, no running water on reserves in Manitoba and Canada's new guidelines on how often women should get mammograms has not impressed many of our listeners. We read your [...]
They call it Old Harry, an oil and gas deposit off the shores of Quebec's Magdalen Islands in waters shared by more than one province. Old Harry could contain a few billion barrels of oil and oil companies want to start exploratory drilling. But while [...]
Over four years in Honduras, 23 journalists have been killed. Others face detention, censorship and intimidation. Journalists in Honduras criticize a culture of impunity in the government of Porfirio Lobo, the newly-elected president who has just cut a free trade deal with Canada. Critics say [...]
For years women around the globe have been told breast cancer screening is essential for early diagnosis and life-saving treatment. So what are we to make of a new study saying women under 50 with an average risk of breast cancer don't need mammograms, that [...]
They wrote their first letter to the minister of Transport back in February. They were the families of 17 people killed in a helicopter crash off Newfoundland back in 2009. The families of the dead and the sole survivor Robert Decker had nagging questions about [...]
The pictures coming out of Cairo and seven other Egyptian cities depict a frenzy and an anger over a revolution sidetracked as the ruling military council stumbles in what was supposed to be a transition to [...]
In the late 80s and through the nineties, three veterinarians with Health Canada were growing increasingly uncomfortable as they investigated bovine growth hormones to determine whether to approve their use. There was pressure from the manufacturers and from their bosses. And when they went public [...]
In every war there are always two fronts with the soldiers on the front lines and the politicians in the backrooms. Separated by geography and complicated by security. Few journalists can keep track of both sides of that fight. Today we bring you the [...]
From Egypt to Syria, people demanding political change were back on the streets this weekend. But if Egyptians are feeling the sting of a promising revolution stalled, Syrians are in the thick of a revolution not yet enabled. With President Assad seemingly resistant to even [...]
We've all seen the pictures, people without drinking water making the trek to the community pipe or the local lake, their water kept in a pail. Now take that image and look again because the people with the buckets live on First Nations reserves in [...]
Investigative filmmaker David Ridgen is back with an extraordinary story of redemption and forgiveness that began with the violence of the Ku Klux Klan back in the 60s in the deep US South. The story of what happens when the brother of a dead man [...]
The Syrian president's regime has never been so isolated. Damascus has long been condemned by countries outside the Middle East, but now the League of Arab States has suspended Syria for its violent crackdown on dissent. Economic sanctions are threatened. For the moment, Syria ignores [...]
Former NHL forward Georges Laraque loved the game of hockey. But he rarely got to play because he was expected to rough it up on the ice. An unlikely tough guy looks back on his years as an [...]
If you ever come across a rhinoceros stamping its feet, lowering its head and snorting, you could be in big trouble. But don't worry, there's almost no danger. Your chances of ever coming across a rhino are small and getting a lot smaller. We hear [...]
The Occupy movement is going from the parks to the courts, As activists in Canada and the United States argue that Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly provisions in both countries give them the right to stay where they are. Today, with deadlines looming [...]
Why is the govt spying on Cindy Blackstock? Cindy Blackstock is an advocate for First Nations children and youth. She has an email trail that shows bureaucrats from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs are tailing her, showing up at more than 70 speeches and appearances, [...]
Earlier this week, we brought you the story of Leilani Muir, a victim of Alberta's former decades-long Eugenics program. Today we'll hear more about the institution where she was forced to live. Plus, euthanasia and yelling at students are on the minds of our listeners [...]
Fanke James creates irreverent even whimsical art with a message about the environment, oil sands and climate change but when a federal bureaucrat accused her of creating a Fantasy, she filed an Access to Information request and discovered an email trail indicating officials at the [...]
Back in November of 2007, a group of students at the University of Calgary offered their comments on a Facebook page set up to complain about the competence of a professor. That incident has evolved into an ongoing court fight over freedom of speech and [...]
A new man is about the take the job of Canada's top cop but the promotion for the next Commissioner of the RCMP comes amidst ongoing allegations of sexual harassment and allegations that complaints over the abuse went no [...]
For decades the Arab League has operated as a "Dictators Protection Society" to quote one pundit. Now it is ready to boot Syria out of its exclusive club. The King of Jordan is speaking out and Saudi Arabia may be pulling strings. All of which [...]
Her case began in BC's Supreme Court this week but Gloria Taylor suffering from ALS has already taken her fight public. She has spoken at length on this program. Now in a Vancouver courtroom, those arguing against the decriminalization of assisted suicide are waiting to [...]
You can be forgiven if you think U.S. Republican politics is a bit like a ferris wheel - one candidate's up, then they're down. From Michelle Bachmann to Rick Perry to Newt Gingrich ... what seems like an anybody-but-Mitt Romney mentality persists. Which brings us [...]
She was little girl unloved and unsuspecting when her parents drove her up the hill in Red Deer Alberta. It was a moment that would forever change Leilani Muir's life, abandoned to people zealously experimenting with Eugenics. What they would do to her would result [...]
Our season-long look at Game Changers examines those moments that changed ordinary lives in ways no one could anticipate. We asked for your stories. You answered. And today we've got the first of [...]
The report card is loved, loathed, anticipated or dreaded. And in BC public schools it is a bargaining chip. Teachers waiting for a contract say they won't fill them out. The students are divided. With a Labour Relations deadline looming some say its time to [...]
Proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline say the future of the project is in doubt because the State department has delayed an approval decision by changing the [...]
Today we commemorate Remembrance Day, with some astonishing stories of survival and some heartbreaking stories of sacrifice. It's been 93 years since the end of the War to end all Wars. And at least we've learned that war keeps no [...]
The best way to remember Canada's veterans may be just not to forget them. We hear what's being done to help combat veterans leave combat behind [...]
Today, we wanted to run through a variety of real-world scenarios triggered by the very real possibility that Iran is developing nuclear weapons capabilities. Sam Gardiner, a Retired US Air Force Colonel has taught strategy at the US National War College, he walks us through [...]
Meet a Vancouver doctor says a plant from the jungles of Peru can help some of his addict patients. But Health Canada says he can't use it in his practice in Canada because it's [...]
Occupy or vacate? Meat or vegetables? Our listeners weigh in on the stories of the week with letters that include a newsroom- wartime [...]
How much is Ottawa's tough-on-crime legislation going to cost? And who's going to pay? Some provincial premiers resent the extra costs associated with Ottawa's new crime bill, we get a provincial [...]
Women in Prince Edward Island who want to terminate their pregnancy have to go somewhere else to do it. There is no abortion service on the island, and the government has no plans for change. But a group of women in Prince Edward Island are [...]
Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi told his country yesterday he will be leaving office. The news came after Berlusconi won yet another vote in parliament. But with so many abstentions, it was clear his majority was gone. We also examine the financial concerns in Italy [...]
Keris Myrick hears voices no one else can hear. She learned to ignore them. She also learned to ignore the voices of mental health experts telling her not to expect much from life. As the CEO of a company, she's one of many people challenging [...]
It seems the Occupy movement is at a crossroads. Critics are calling for their cities to start evicting the occupiers. Supporters are coming up with ideas to take the movement to the next level. Today, we take a look at what's been achieved and what [...]
Some people in need of sperm are turning to websites that facilitate the free exchange of sperm but, Health Canada is warning Canadians not to get sperm in this manner. They are sending warnings to the people who run these websites because the semen has [...]
In September, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that Insite - the supervised safe injection program in Vancouver - should be allowed to continue operating. Health and social workers say the program helps reduce the spread of disease among intravenous drug users by providing them [...]
Greeks who don't like the sounds coming out of Brussels might take a tip from the men who sailed with Ulysses -- stick wax in their ears. Some ancient themes resurface as the Eurozone crisis [...]
Right around the same time that women won the right to vote in this country, a health crisis began that continues to infect and kill. Today, we speak with a researcher who believes he's traced the very first human to be infected with the AIDS [...] |
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